• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

XFX 7970 Suddenly Overheating, hardware problem

Status
Not open for further replies.
N

{NG}Fidel

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Jan 17, 2005
Messages
6,284
So my 7970 just started overheating pretty bad recently.
I never really OCed it and it still has the stock cooler (AMD Designed one).
The card now just overheats even at desktop, at one point (before custom fan profiles) it was at 95C at the desktop. In games its at temps like that within seconds of launching the game (Skyrim, DayZ, BF4, etc). I am now simply afraid to use the card.
Atop of that my XFX login for the support page isnt working and yet when I check my email I have tons of XFX emails, including one that had me validate my email. I dont know how I am supposed to login or put a support ticket in when I cant login.
 
Have you checked to see if the fan is still spinning?

Take the cooler off and reapply paste?
 
Yeah check the fan for sure. Also replacing thermal paste is good to do every so often ( I like once a year). But maybe try the XFX warranty route first. Not sure about the login.

Call (800) 880-3225 , it is XFX phone number, I wound up having to call, the support email thing is grossly slow.
 
Check fan...it's probably dying. GPUZ should show the fan RPM..make sure it's spinning at its proper value based on the slider percentage
 
The fan spins. But the problem is the GPU clock is fluctuating wildly.
I get to 925mhz at desktop which is absurd when no videos are playing.
The custom fan profiles I setup are the only reason that the GPU isn't on fire.
 
GPU at 925mhz in youtube, 76C....
Fan is audible at 81% fan speed.
I just messaged XFX Support.
 
I had /still have an XFX 6770 that one day did the same. at idle nothing playing it was fine but the moment you played something, anything it jumped thru the roof in temps. I think some VRM control went haywire.
 
yeah the clocks go haywire. Going from 300-500-925 all in a couple of seconds.
 
double check that BOTH fans are spinning? On mine only one would spin unless i had it at 100% fan speed otherwise only the one would work. you might have the same issue and can easily be fixed if so.......xfx service is best in the industry......especially our local rep
 
Not even getting a replacement HSF. Avoid XFX unless you study their warranties.
 
That sucks. Have you looked into replacement fans for your heatsink or maybe an aftermarket HSF? Not ideal but cheaper than buying a new card.

EDIT: If you have no recourse I'd be happy to take a look at the card, no charge beyond shipping your way and I'll ship back on my dime. If so, just send me a PM.
 
Last edited:
I have an update on this entire situation. XFX has graciously given the green light on an rma. I just sent my gpu today via UPS. I got insurance, a tracking number, packaged the GPU securely, and cleaned it with compressed air. I will update This thread if everything goes well. Fingers crossed that this rma doesn't have any complications.
 
Guess its time to update your sig then:D Good to hear xfx got it worked out for you after all
 
Doh! Totally forgot to do that lol.
I don't know if I'm going to change 7970 to 280x though. I like 7970 as a product name more lol.
 
Well my GPU just arrived at the rma facility. I wonder how long this process takes.
 
My RMA with XFX took about 10-14 days from the day I shipped to the day it returned--might have been quicker but it fell across two weekends and nothing moved during that time. I was absolutely impressed with their service. They determined bad VRAM and sent another card. Was the only RMA I have ever had to do with anybody. Sadly, I bought the GTX 780 while the 7970 was away on RMA and never used the 7970 they sent back to me! Glad I had read that the reference models didn't have the lifetime warranty, only the DD models. There were no surprises there. Thinking there might have also been a Monday holiday during the RMA session--Memorial Day or something like that--either way, it was a pretty quick turnaround on their part and they paid shipping back to me.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top